Monday, November 24, 2003 Rick Sirmans Grabs Last Lap Victory In Florida Mini Stock Challenge 100 by Jane Smith Samsula, Fla. (November 22, 2003) - Mini Stocks from around Florida and Georgia came to New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday, November 22, for the l00 lap Florida Mini Stock Challenge Championship. Forty eight Mini Stocks took qualifying times with 36 in the feature race. A consi race was run with the top six drivers being transferred to the main event. Racing their way into the main feature was Jay Zolciak, Mark Moniz, Dennis Valdez, David Moskwa, Rick Partridge and Tom Zimmerman. Darren Jackson set fast time but it was Robbie Storer on the pole for the 100 lap event. Taking the lead on the green was Ted "Mr Mini Stock" Vulpius followed by Robbie Storer, Dustin Deschamps, Rick Sirmans, and Chris Thornton. On lap 2, Tim "Missileman" McPhail brought out the green as he spun in turns 1 and 2. The race restarted on lap 6 with Vulpius on the point. By lap 11, Storer passed Vulpius taking over the point with Rick Sirmans following Storer to second. Vulpius slide back to third with Steve Griffin in fourth and Chris Thornton and Darren Jackson going side-by-side for fifth. Jackson took fifth by lap 12 with Thornton sliding to sixth. Lap 13 Mark Moniz brought out the yellow as he spun on the frontstretch. The race goes back green on lap 15 with Storer, Sirmans, Vulpius, Griffin and Jackson in the top five. But it is a short green as Brent Yoder spins on the frontstretch bringing out the yellow on lap 18. The race goes back green on lap 20 with Storer, Griffin, Vulpius, Jackson and Steve Dorer in the top five. By lap 23, Jackson passes Vulpius for third and Sirmans passes Dorer for fifth. Chad Ashley brought out the yellow on lap 26 as he spun on the backstretch and was done for the night. The race restarted on lap 24 with Storer in the lead. On lap 35, fast qualifier Darren Jackson spun coming down the frontstretch. Chris Hooker, having no place to go, hits Jackson and spins himself. Both cars were done for the night but both drivers were fine. The race goes back to green and Griffin makes his move and passes Storer and takes over the lead with Storer in second, Dorer third, Sirmans fourth and Vulpius fifth. Lap 51 the whole field is brought onto pit road for gas and tires, mandatory pit stop. The race resumes on lap 51 as Griffin leads the way. On lap 51, Rick Sirmans and Steve Dorer are doing some pretty good side-by-side racing as Sirmans takes third and Dorer slides to fourth. On lap 59, the 2003 Florida Mini Stock Champion Robbie Yoakam passes Vulpius and takes over fifth. Lap 60 Michael Seay brings out the yellow as he spins on the backstretch. The race goes back green on lap 64 with Griffin at the point followed by Robbie Storer, Rick Sirmans, Steve Dorer, and Robbie Yoakam. Tim Clark and S.C. Klinger get together in turns 3 and 4 bringing out the yellow once again on lap 67. Klinger's car gets the worse end but both cars are done for the night and both drivers were fine. The race resumes on lap 73 with Griffin, Storer, Dorer, Yoakam and Sirmans in the top five. By lap 81, Sirmans has passed Yoakam for fourth with Yoakam sliding to fifth. Dorer puts the heat on Storer and takes over fourth with Sirmans riding along for third and Storer falling to fourth followed by Yoakam. Coming to the finish line on the last lap, Griffin gets stuck behind a lap car and Sirmans takes advantage of the traffic jam and takes the win by a few inches over Griffin. Needless to say, it was Steve Griffin's race as he ran a great race. Top five were Rick Sirmans, Steve Griffin, Steve Dorer, Robbie Storer and Robbie Yoakam. In tech, the top three were torn down and the No. 3 of Griffin was found to be illegal. After running a very good race, Griffin was disqualified but proved that he could race just like he use to and everyone was very proud of him. Griffin, who was critcially injured last year, has made a remarkable recovery and it was great seeing him back on the track again in his No. 3. OFFICIAL FINISH 1. #05 Rick Sirmans 2. #97 Steve Dorer 3. #9 Robbie Storer 4. #8 Robbie Yoakam 5. #51 Dustin Deschamps 6. #71x Ted Vulpius 7. #24 Chris Thornton 8. #70 Marty Neikens 9. #77 Lee Davis 10. #7 Clint Foley 11. #98 Josh Hermann 12. #20 Travis Nichols 13. #v3 Rex Christensen 14. #82 Jimmy Warram 15. #69 Jay Zolciak 16. #88 Ronnie Larson 17. #41 Mark Moniz 18. #40 Dennis Valdez 19. #13A Rick Partridge 20. #71 David Moskwa 21. #55z Tom Zimmerman 22. #81 Billy Chancy 23. #10 Jeff Stalnaker 24. #10x Michael Seay 25. #2 Don Faunce 26. #19 Kevin Macy 27. #94 Richard Elkins, Jr. 28. #15 Tim Clark 29. #38 S.C. Klinger 30. #7 Tim McPhail 31. #1x Chris Hooker 32. #61 Darren Jackson 33. #07 Chad Ashley 34. #1 Brent Yoder 35. #60 Tom Jones, Jr. 36. #3 Steve Griffin Dq'd Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! <news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!